1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an amusement system which is mainly intended for infants and to be installed in an amusement section in an amusement park, a department store or a supermarket.
2. Description of Related Art
Children, particularly infants, are interested in various things present around them. For example, they find amusement in flexibly forming a plastic material such as clay into various shapes and in playing with sand to form the sand into various shapes in a sandbox in a park. Through such activities, they acquire a formative artistic sense.
However, the sandbox is currently the only amusement place that gives the children an opportunity to acquire the formative artistic sense while playing. When infants play with clay or play with sand in the sandbox, they may put pieces of the clay or sand into their mouths, and their bodies, clothes and surroundings may be soiled with the clay or sand. Particularly, the sandbox which is generally provided outdoors is often a place of evacuation for stray dogs and cats, thereby presenting health and hygienic problems.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an amusement system which gives children an opportunity to acquire the formative artistic sense in a simple and clean manner without soiling their bodies and clothes.
To achieve the aforesaid object, the present invention provides an amusement system which comprises: a partitioning member defining therein a playing space; and a plastic member provided in association with the partitioning member in the playing space so that a player can touch the plastic member; the plastic member comprising a container bag formed of a flexible sheet, and a filler material such as a plastic material or a particulate material filled in the container bag in a substantially air-free state. The container bag may entirely be formed of the flexible sheet, or a portion of the container bag that cannot directly be touched by the player may be formed of a rigid material. The substantially air-free state is such that the filler material filled in the container bag can easily be displaced in the container bag by an external force and the plastic member can easily be deformed by the external force.
In the amusement system having the aforesaid construction, the player can freely depress the plastic member or gather the filler material around a portion of the plastic member into a heap. Thus, the player can get a feeling equivalent to playing with clay. Since the player does not directly touch the filler material filled in the container bag, there is no possibility that his body and clothes are soiled. Further, players can always play under clean conditions in the amusement system by periodically cleaning the surface of the container bag that has been touched by the players.
The plastic member may be placed on a floor in the playing space, so that the player can play on the plastic member. With this arrangement, the player can get a feeling equivalent to playing in a sandbox. The plastic member may be fixed on a partition wall of the partitioning member in the playing space or supported on a support post projecting from the floor in the playing space, so that the player can form the plastic member into various shapes.
The amusement system may further comprise vibrating means for vibrating the plastic member. With this arrangement, the plastic member is vibrated by the vibrating means to be restored into its initial uniform state with a flat surface after the player has finished playing. Therefore, the player can comfortably start playing in the amusement system.